The Dutch Government has decided to ditch all use of the term “Holland” to reference the name of their country. The Netherlands, the country’s official name, will now be used in all promotional materials. The clear branding decision ends decades of confusion and has been agreed by a range of stakeholders including central government, tourism board and business leaders.

A unified brand for the global stage

Those behind the change want to essentially rebrand the country on an international stage, where Holland is arguably the more common name. In particular, government ministers are keen to disassociate the county from the image of Amsterdam’s red light district and recreational drug use.

A spokeswoman for the ministry of foreign affairs said the Netherlands needed a more uniform and coordinated national branding. She said: “We want to present the Netherlands as an open, inventive and inclusive country. We’ve modernised our approach.

Although the Netherlands’ flag is red, white and blue, the color orange is prominently used in the country’s branding. Dutch News reported that orange will remain the country’s official colour, although it’s not known whether the tulip icon will be retained.

Among the first uses of the revised brand in major promotional campaigns will be at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, which will be hosted by the Dutch city Rotterdam. The Netherlands will also be used on all materials associated with the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

An expensive rebranding exercise

Hardest hit will likely be the country’s soccer team and tourism board.

To many sports fans around the world, the name Holland is a powerful brand. The bright orange kit and attractive soccer played by the Dutch during the 70s, 80s and 90s created a valuable legacy on the international stage, albeit one that has been in steady decline for some years now.

The tourism board face a potentially long and expensive rebranding exercise, not least because their main website uses the domain Holland.com. The tourism board also publish extensive brand guidelines known as the Holland Toolkit.

It could provide the organization with a needed opportunity to shift their focus, however. Tourism numbers to the capital Amsterdam have reached levels that many are calling unsustainable.

Where the name “Holland” comes from

Located on the west coast, North Holland and South Holland are just two of the Netherlands’ 12 provinces. Throughout much of the Middle Ages, Holland was a unified political entity. It continued as the dominant region of the Dutch Republic, before the Netherlands—meaning Low Lands—came into being after Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.